High Summer ROTE Bingo

ROTE Bingo is back! This year the theme is: Rare/Side Characters! Design by Feyweird, Illustration by Roostercrowned

[crowninja]

Perseverance, of Withywoods

For @high-summer-rote-bingo

Bingo Card + Notes under the cut!

The concept for these portraits is "how they look in the skill" and I wanted to represent Per's total lack of skill as a golden halo that shields him from the silvery tendrils trying to reach him. He's Bee's beacon of hope BECAUSE he has no magic.

For his expression, I wanted him to look a bit guarded but earnest, like he's not sure what he should be doing for his portrait. I think he's smiling at Bee here :)

I wanted his clothes too look rougher since he's a commoner, so you can see the thread on the shirt.

I'm not really happy with how this one turned out tbh ... I kept trying different versions and I was working on a new design from scratch but I lost the file. I got really frustrated after losing all that work so I'm just posting this one to get it over with. I wish I had something better for Per....

[bowlofcookies-blog]

The Witch of Chalced: A New Song

— Honey

The sea had always carried songs to Shoaks. Tonight it carried people hungry for one.

Honey cupped the little mouth harp to her lips. The years had stiffened her fingers until they no longer danced across strings, but they could still steady the instrument while her breath found the tune.

Caw.

The tavern fell quiet.

"Another new verse?" someone asked.

Honey smiled faintly. "If the sailors keep bringing stories, I keep adding verses."

She drew a low, wandering note from the little mouth harp before she began to sing.

    The sailors say the Witch keeps ravens,

    Black wings upon the tide.

    They carry every whispered sin...

    No guilt can ever hide.

Caw. Caw.

No one laughed.

    The nobles say she steals their slaves,

    Then sends them home with gold.

    They ransom kin and purchase freedom...

    No chain can long take hold.

Honey let the last note linger.

A woman newly come from Chalced slowly shook her head.

"The song still lacks its truest verse."

Honey lowered the harp.

"Oh?"

"The Witch needs neither ravens nor silver. She has a thousand eyes. A thousand eyes to see the bruises, a thousand ears to hear the cries, and a thousand hands to carry a woman away before the next blow falls."

A chair scraped.

"May she never blink," someone whispered.

Honey's final note faded into the room.

A crow dropped from the rafters to Cockle's shoulder.

Caw. Caw.

Cockle offered it the last of his crust.

Honey laughed. "Greedy thing. Like every minstrel I've ever met."

"You've been prowling the docks all afternoon." She nodded toward the bird. "Tell me you've found something worth singing."

[crowninja]

Thick, of King Dutiful's Coterie.

For @high-summer-rote-bingo

Bingo card + design notes below!

I know, I'm starting with the free space, but the cards that have Thick don't have the other characters I want to draw lol

Notes:

Thick's description from the wiki: "He is short and pudgy, has small ears that are snug close to his head and raggedly cropped hair. He keeps the end of his tongue pushed out of his mouth and the set of his eyelids makes him appear sleepy. His clothes were at first second-hand and too big for him, but since his talent was discovered, he's had clothes that mark him as the Prince's man. Fitz estimates his age to be in his late twenties." I didn't include the tongue being out since I knew I wanted him to be smiling for the portrait, but I tried to stay close to the description. I specially wanted his clothes to be rich and for him to look very dignified, as befits his station.

I have always read Thick as someone with Down Syndrome, so I was looking at references of people of color with DS while drawing. These two in particular:

Sources: shutterstock.com/search/down-syndrome-black / https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/08/25/341672950/people-with-down-syndrome-are-pioneers-in-alzheimers-research

One of the first things I decided was that I wanted him to be surrounded by light to represent his happy Skill-music. I always associate Thick with light and warmth.

Thick's origins are vague since he only came to Buckkeep as part of a traveling group of musicians. I usually draw people from Buck and the surrounding areas with darker skin, but since Thick may not originate from the coastal region I went with a lighter brown skintone.

[high-summer-rote-bingo]

☀️The AO3 collection is now available! ☀️

You may begin posting your works to Tumblr and Ao3! Please tag @high-summer-rote-bingo so I can find them.

Submit your Ao3 works to the collection: High_Summer_2026_Rare_Characters_Bingo

I'll begin reblogging them tomorrow when I wake up. 🌊🌊🌊

[high-summer-rote-bingo]

Halfway through July!

How are things coming along? Posting begins August 1st! the Ao3 collection will be ready by then as well. If you have already posted, that's fine, but I am waiting until August 1st to begin reblogging. I'll be gone for a while but back by then to get things rolling. Hope you're having fun!!

☀️FAQ ☀️RULES

[high-summer-rote-bingo]

The 2026 BINGO cards have arrived!

Please choose ONE card and stick with it for the entire summer. Let me know if you have any questions that aren't answered in the links below. Have fun!!

☀️FAQ ☀️RULES

Art of Relpda on the free space and Heeby doing a cannonball by @roostercrowned!!

[high-summer-rote-bingo]

The cards have been updated! Please look them over again in case yours changed. I corrected some spellings, replaced duplicate names on the same cards, and swapped out a few duplicate characters for more variety.

[high-summer-rote-bingo]

The 2026 BINGO cards have arrived!

Please choose ONE card and stick with it for the entire summer. Let me know if you have any questions that aren't answered in the links below. Have fun!! NOTE: The cards have been updated (as of the morning of June 29th) to correct some errors and replace duplicate names. Please ignore the old versions!

☀️FAQ ☀️RULES

Art of Relpda on the free space and Heeby doing a cannonball by @roostercrowned!!

[high-summer-rote-bingo]

It's time!!

The cards themselves will be ready to share tonight. This year there is a new theme and FOUR bingo cards! Get ready to create for the rare characters of ROTE!

☀️FAQ ☀️RULES ☀️BINGO CARDS (Coming Soon)

Illustration of Relpda and Heeby by @roostercrowned!

[high-summer-rote-bingo]

BINGO Winner Spotlight!

Big congrats to @crowninja for winning bingo TWICE with their fantastic pixel art pieces! Below are some Q&As so you can get to know our big winner and how they tackled this challenge.

What was your artistic process while working on the women of ROTE pieces?

I started by picking a main color that I associated with each character, I used that color to build the palette (I wanted to use red with Molly, but I had already used it with Starling and didn’t want to repeat colors), then I tried to create little scenarios for them, like how Malta is at the docks and Kettricken is hunting, I wanted the pieces to feel like they were scenes in a game where you interact with the characters. Designing each character was the hardest part, but the backgrounds were very easy and fun, so sometimes I made the entire background before the character.

2. What are your artistic inspirations?

I started doing pixel art recently, so a lot of my inspiration comes from YouTubers like Brandon James Greer who make tutorials as well as timelapses.

3. Who was your favorite to illustrate?

Patience and Lacey! I had a lot of fun designing the background and their color palette was my favorite to work with.

4. Who was a more challenging to illustrate?

Bee, for sure. I knew I wanted to do something for her from the beginning, but it was hard to translate my mental image of her into pixel art. Her facial proportions, for example, were difficult to figure out, because I wanted to draw attention to her eyes but couldn’t do a lot of details, and I had given everyone the same black-dot eyes, but they looked odd on Bee. I ended up giving her a different eye design from the others. I also struggled with her color palette, I gave her a more yellow-ish coloring instead of pure white. It was hard but I had fun.

5. Was there anyone else you wish you could have illustrated?

I really wish I’d gotten to draw Nettle and Amber! I actually wanted to do a “full” bingo card with all the characters, but I think that was pretty unrealistic.

6. Where can we find your art?

Over at @ crowninja.

Give them a follow to see more great art!

(all images used with permission)

[feyweird]

The next seasonal fandom event is Harvest Fest! Please respond/like/share to show you are interested.

DETAILS: This will be a collaboration event like Springfest, but flipped! This time, Artists will pitch their ideas and Writers will choose which ones they'd like to work on. You will be paired up to work on a collaborative project based on this choice. THEME: Autum/Fall, harvest celebrations, scary/spooky ambiance, creatures and costumes! Horror elements welcome as long as they are appropriately tagged.

DATES:

Sign-ups would begin soon on September 15th.

Matches will be sent out September 22nd.

Event will begin September 29th and end on November 7th with check-ins running throughout.

The event page is not quite set up yet, but if you'd like to follow @harvestfest-rote and/or @rote-fandom-events you will find out more details soon!!

Feel free to ask me any questions you have at this time

--Foxy

[high-summer-rote-bingo]

Thank you to everyone who participated in the first High Summer ROTE event! I’ll be sorting out the winners, and reach out for the winner spotlight interview sometime in the next few days.

Also, keep an eye out for the Harvest Fest event interest check coming soon!

— Foxy

[crowninja]

BINGO x2

I had a lot of fun making these and seeing what everyone else made for the event! ❤️ I have a lot of love for all the female characters in ROTE and I'm happy that I got to share that love with all of you 💕 and now I get to catch up on all the wonderful works that everyone made this month! Yaiiii

Thank you to the mods over af @high-summer-rote for organizing the event!

[feyweird]

Molly for @high-summer-rote inspired by Alphonse Mucha: Spring.

Unfortunately I ran out of time to finish this, but I wanted to post something for the Women of ROTE Bingo!

[wobubling]

pov you're about to listen to the best song you'll ever hear in your life 🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛

[maddyhope-art]

For my second and last entry for the women of ROTE bingo @high-summer-rote I decided to draw Keppet’s/Fitz’s biological mom. She makes me so emotional. @tragediegh inspired me to draw her after the lovely fanfic she wrote for her! So I also dedicate this to Trage!

[bi-enad]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Three vignettes of Vixen's relationship with Burrich and Fitz. Also, cuddling.

Yay Vixen!!! I was rereading bits of Farseer and was struck by how much of a presence Vixen had in Fitz's early years with Burrich.

I imagine she probably would have been a bit hurt at Burrich's continued denial of his Wit/their bond, but I think she would also understand maybe more than anyone how much Burrich is struggling. So there's some tension there.

I wanted to work in the fact that she canonically made herself a burrow to have Nosy's litter explicitly against Burrich's wishes, but I couldn't fit it. Girlboss.

@high-summer-rote

[tragediegh]

And she's done, with days to spare! 🥳 my second Women of ROTE Bingo fic is one I've been wanting to write for a loooong time, and what better excuse than an event celebrating some of the most unsung, niche characters in this amazing series! Fitz's Mom, I hope I did you justice, bc girl, you were a blast to write 💛

The Shepherdess's Son

My father had never spoken kindly of bastards. I knew how they were treated in Chivalry's land. But no son of mine would ever be called a bastard. The child growing inside of me was a cherished and wanted one.

Long before FitzChivalry Farseer was ever brought to Buckkeep, there was a boy named Keppet, who was raised in the mountains by a young woman that loved him very much. This is their story, told in her own words.